WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Friday is shopping day - so I asked Mr. CCC - ( don't call him the M.O.T.H. - he doesn't like that) what he wanted for dinner. The answer - Salmon with some couscous and some of those little nuts things (he meant pine nuts!!). I had a hankering for some prawns, plus I've kind of been kind of obsessed with tzatziki since making it a couple of weeks ago. So let's combine the two!!

I set about making the tzatziki on Thursday night - you will find the recipe on the Prawn Kalamaki post, and in dips. I think I have now found 101 uses for tzatziki - I include it in heaps of things now - on pizzas - sandwiches, burgers you name it. It can't be bad for you - it's made with yoghurt!! Anyway I decided to use it as a dipping sauce for some lovely fresh prawns - very good! Dear Readers have you tried it yet - and if you have, what have you tried it with - would love to hear if there is a new idea I can try it with!!

Now to main course. I found a recipe for couscous that had pine nuts in it - it also had orange and dates - looked good, will give that a go. Now what to marinade the salmon in? Here is what I came up with.

Bring the chicken stock to boiling point. Place the couscous in a heatproof bowl. Pour over the hot chicken stock, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 5 minutes.

Peel and segment the orange. Do this by removing the white pith, and cutting down either side of the membrane (make sure you do this over a bowl so that you can collect the juice).

Make the dressing by placing the oil, cumin, sugar and orange juice in a screw top jar. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Shake well.

After 5 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork to separate the grains.

Place the orange segments, dates, carrot, mint and pine nuts in the bowl with the couscous. Pour over the dressing, mix well.

* For the carrots I used a grater that gave me a slightly larger, less mushy texture.

Now to cook the salmon I think I came up with a pretty good idea. I was also cooking salmon for "The Darlings - they wanted their usual - Teriyaki Salmon - so that meant that I had two batches to cook - really didn't want two frypans to wash. Well I am sure by now you have figured out that I love my disposable foil trays - I decided to use them tonight to grill my fish in!! So under the grill I placed my two trays of salmon - no washing up!!! How clever am I?

Grill the salmon skin side down for 2-3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn over and grill the flesh side for 2-3 minutes, or until done to your liking. Make sure you brush well with the glaze.

And the results?? The judges awarded a 9 1/2 out of 10!!!!

The couscous was lovely and light and fresh - it would be great also be great with some grilled or barbecued chicken.

So Dear Readers what clever little tricks have you come up with to save on washing up or something that has made life a whole lot easier? Please share with us!

As for the Teriyaki Salmon .... I am saving that recipe for another day - when I will share with you the salad that I serve with it when serving to adults as well!